Category Archives: perfumes in movies

perfumes in movies

Across the Universe (2007)

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The dressing table in Lucy Carrigan’s bedroom is pretty busy, but one bottle has caught my attention – the third from the left.

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il_fullxfull.722925921_7au2The label and the golden bow mean one thing only: Annick Goutal. It’s not the trademark fluted bottle, but the squared one, which I believe can be dated back to the late 1980s. It’s impossible to read the paper label, so we can only assume it could be Gardenia Passion (created by Goutal herself after a trip to Japan and launched in 1989), Eau d’Hadrien (the first fragrance of the French maison, created by Goutal and Francis Camail and launched in 1981) or Eau de Charlotte (created by Goutal for her step-daughter and launched in 1982). I’m not sure if other scents were released in squared bottles, though.

perfumes in movies

Phaedra (1962)

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voldenuit_vintage_guerlain_bornunicornThere’s a bottle of Guerlain Vol de Nuit on the protagonist’s bathroom shelf. Phaedra (Melina Mercouri), who falls in love with her stepson (Anthony Perkins), is a rich and bored woman, so it’s no wonder she uses this perfume. Vol de Nuit, created by Jacques Guerlain in 1933, is not the ubiquitous Shalimar or Mitsouko, but has a special charm, also related to its source of inspiration – Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s novel with the same name, published in 1931. The aviation theme of the name can be found in the flacon rayonnant, resembling a moving aircraft propeller.

Image source.

perfumes in movies

Electric Slide (2014)

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pantheredecartier_bornunicornCharlotte (Chloë Sevigny) has a very busy dressing table. There are several make-up items and perfume bottles, among which Christian Dior Eau Savage and Cartier Panthère de Cartier.

Eau Savage is a classic perfume by Christian Dior, first launched in 1966 and created by Edmond Roudnitska; it’s still a best seller, despite the reformulation process it’s gone through. It’s an enjoyable perfume with a fantastic citrusy opening, aromatic middle notes and woody notes in the base. The Cartier perfume, on the other hand, is a symbol of the decade it was launched in – the 1980s. I’ve always loved the showy luxury of its perfume bottle, with the two panthers made of frosted glass.

 

perfumes in movies

Alibi na vodě (1965)

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alibinavode_bornunicorn (1)While the Director (Otomar Krejča) is filming a new documentary, he meets up with the model Zuzana (Ivana Striničová) in a boathouse and gives her Guerlain Chant d’Arômes as a gift. This is one of those rare cases in which the name of the perfume is actually mentioned (Zuzana tries to read its name on the bottle, but the Director corrects her with a good French pronunciation).

guerlain_chantdaromes_bornunicorn(2)This is the Flacon Chant d’Arômes, produced by Pochet du Courval. The chypre perfume contains notes of white flowers (gardenia, jasmine, honeysuckle, ylang-ylang) and is the first solo creation of Jean-Paul Guerlain; launched in 1962, it was addressed to a young audience, in an attempt to bring new energy and a youthful spirit into the brand. According to Monsieur Guerlain, the bottle “was inspired by the design of a Florentine vase. It came with a green velvet ribbon, like the ones young girls used to wear around their necks — a romantic nod to youth and purity.” It seems appropriate that the Director gives Zuzana such a youthful, yet classy, perfume.

The credit of this id goes to the lovely Monika, the mind behind the perfume blog Guerlinade, who posted a screencap of the film on her Instagram account, thus sparking my obsession with it.

perfumes in movies

La cage aux folles (1978)

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lacageauxfolles_bornunicornAlbin Mougeotte (Michel Serrault) is getting ready to become his drag queen self, Zaza Napoli. The dressing table is super-busy: I’d love to identify everything on it, but I’ve come up with a couple of perfumes only.

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Y-perfume-ysl_bornunicornThe first sits on the left: it’s Y, one of the first perfumes by Yves Saint Laurent. Created by Jean Amic and launched in 1964, it’s a chypre fruity fragrance opening up with a triumph of aldehydes, honeysuckle, gardenia and peach. It was advertised as the “invisible dress by Yves Saint Laurent”, made “especially for his devilishly aware clientele”. I wonder if Albin was among them.

The second sits on the right: it’s the unmistakable flacon montre of Guerlain colognes. It has the gold screw-cap stopper, which is accurate, since the film was directed in 1978. The central disk on the label is purple, so it’s Jicky.

guerlain_jickycologne_bornunicornIt’s one of the historical scents by Guerlain, created in 1889: according to Fragrantica, it was one of the first perfumes created with addition of synthetic materials. The top notes include rosemary and citrus (lemon, bergamot and mandarin orange); the middle notes include tonka bean, lavender, orris root, basil and jasmine, balanced by the warm base notes of spices, leather, sandalwood, benzoin, amber, Brazilian rosewood and vanilla. This sounds just perfect for Albin’s flamboyant personality.